Question 1

Are you certified organic?

Accepted Answer

We like to say we are better than organic, but we aren't certified. Our practices ensure a healthy and happy animal raised as close to nature as we can. Our feed company has the same opinion we do about it also. The process to be certified organic is very expensive and time consuming, we would rather use that time to connect with our customers, and be as transparent with our methods as possible. You can ask any questions you desire, and you can visit and see the animals being raised. 
  The feed we use is premium non-gmo feed from Kraut Creek, and they use wonderful methods to ensure high quality product that is pesticide free. You can see more about their feed by clicking here Also, one of my favorite aspects of the company is their openness to have their feed tested for gmos and herbicides/pesticides, and they share the results with us. Here is a link to the latest test results. Should something happen that we run out of our normal feed, we will do all we can to stick to non-gmo as long as it is available until we can get our normal feed back in.

Click here to reach out to us with questions or concerns, or to inquire about a time to visit.

Question 2

What is rotational grazing?

Accepted Answer

Rotational grazing is a method of raising animals where they spend a certain amount of time in a fence or paddock, and you move them daily, every other day, weekly, monthly etc. I'll explain a few reasons below.
-Varied diet-
   By limiting the amount of grass to a certain area, the animal is forced to eat both the tasty and nutritious grasses/forage.  When you have food on your plate, are you more inclined to eat the tasty first, or the most nutritious? You want to eat the food that tastes the best to you, right? The animals are the same, so by controlling where they eat, we can ensure that they will eat a more varied diet. A varied diet also gives the most nutritional benefits. 
-Sanitation- 
 By moving daily/weekly, the animals don't sit over their own manure. This is beneficial for a number of reasons. They don't walk and sit in their own manure, which is great, but it also breaks the parasitic cycle. Many parasites reside in the poop, and are host specific. When you move animals, it breaks up that cycle, and the eggs/larvae die before the animals are moved back to that area of pasture. 
-Fertilization- 
   By rotational grazing, we are spreading out the manure every day. Before we come back to the area of pasture, we have given the ground enough time for the manure to break down and feed the land. Animals are actually very beneficial to our environment when they are managed properly!

Question 3

How do I buy your products? Where can I find you?

Accepted Answer

You can buy products in a few ways.... 
1. We attend the Farmer's Market in Ottawa, and the dates will be below when they are known. At the market, we will have seasonal fruits and vegetable from our homestead, eggs, pork, and a place to sign up and reserve your meat order.

2. You can also buy straight from our home! View our product page to see available dates and products offered. You can order straight from the website, and we will contact you with email confirmation when we receive your order. You can also contact us directly to order, we will respond back with confirmation when it is received.

You are welcome to stop by our home anytime if you are in the area, and we will help you out if we are home! Otherwise, you are free to give us a call and set up a time to stop on by.

3. Pop-up markets. During the off-season, we still try and get out there to help you get some goods. When dates are known for off-season markets, they will be listed below and posted on our social media pages.

Pop-up markets

Sycamore Lake Winery
3rd Thursday of the month  4-8
9660 Mayberry Rd, 
Columbus Grove, OH

Current scheduled dates:
September 21st
Due do personal health and preparation for our new child coming soon, the following dates are cancelled!
October 19th 
November 16th

Here, we will have our sourdough served with their dipping oil all weekend while supplies last. On Thursday night from 4-8, our bread, eggs, and pork will be available for purchase at the winery.

Ottawa Events

Question 4

Do you have any sources where I can learn more about the benefits of your methods?

Accepted Answer

I'll begin by saying that these days, it is hard to discern the truth when it comes to health, science, and many areas of life. We do what we do here because we believe that animals should be raised as close to how God intended it for a reason. In the case of pasture raised, certain studies and observations have noticed benefits to the health of the animal that go along with our practices. Could "science" change its' mind? Of course it can change, it already has many times! Knowing that science changes leaves us the responsibility to research and use our own discernment. As we continue this journey, we have come to the conclusion that we just want to do God's will, and strive to take care of His creation in the best way we know how. We do encourage you to prayerfully consider the sources we name, but even moreso, we want you to investigate even deeper.  Great discoveries never happen by a person just taking another's word for it, discoveries happen by people blazing their own trail.  Start here, and blaze your trail. 😊

On a final note, before we made the decision to jump in and sell to our community, Mike and I had a discussion about how hard it would be, because this isn't the easiest work ever. We came to this conclusion, "with knowledge comes responsibility." Experimenting raising our own animals has taught us so much, that we couldn't really go back to how we used to eat.  There is a reason you are at our page now, you have questions about how most meat is raised here in the USA.  As you learn, you may arrive at the same conclusion we did.

https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-topics/farms-following-regenerative-farming-practices-grow

Question 5

Can I preorder sourdough or other baked goods?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately, we don't do preorders or any orders outside of our markets.  We are first and foremost a pasture raised meat farm. The reason we started baking in addition to our meat products was so we could get to know everyone more, and they could get to know us. Nothing helps build relationships like bonding over good food!!! We had no idea our bread would become so popular, for that, we are truly grateful. Sourdough is a very long process, and it doesn't keep for very long. Everything you see at markets are either baked the day before or day of. We desire to have the freshest bread possible, and we would like everyone to have the same opportunity to try it. If we opened up the door to preorders outside of market sales, I fear we would end up not having the time we need to dedicate to our kids, animals, and other business needs.   We thank you all for understanding, and we look forward to serving you in the future!

Question 6

Is delivery available?

Accepted Answer

Yes! For orders over $75, we will deliver within 15 miles of our farm.  Delivery days are Tuesday (Ottawa area) and Friday (Kalida area),. Times for drop off are 4-6pm. .

We can deliver if you aren't home, just put a cooler on your porch for us to drop your items in.

*Disclaimer- Once the products are in the cooler, we are not held responsible for the condition upon your return. ex: if an animal gets in, or if the products are left inside longer than they should and start to thaw etc.

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